Washington — Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy on Sunday called on the president to be “radically honest” about vaccines as the United States faces its highest number of measles cases in more than 30 years.
“I would just ask the president to be aware that people are listening to him — if he discourages immunization, there’ll be fewer people immunized, and if we’re speaking of measles, there’ll be more people sick in the hospital or even die,” Cassidy said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
The Trump administration has in recent months encouraged parents to vaccinate their children against measles as infections have increased. At the same time, President Trump has questioned the vaccine and its recommended schedule. An executive order issued last month suggested separating the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or MMR, into three shots. Trump also claimed without evidence that the combined MMR vaccine could be “lethal.”
Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump said he would “demand” that pharmaceutical companies divide children’s vaccines into five doses administered six months apart. He argued that the smaller doses would produce “a massive reduction in autism,” saying “the vaccine size will be much, much less.”
“So instead of having a massive dose of 82 or 88 different vaccines pumped into your arm, we’ll take out certain vaccines that people are a little worried about,” Mr. Trump said.
Cassidy, a physician, said he was unsure which vaccines the president meant. But he emphasized the need for what he called “radical honesty.”
“Have the president come forward — what is he basing this on? Who’s giving him advice?” Cassidy asked.
Speaking as a doctor, Cassidy said he understands that many people are anxious about vaccines and that those concerns should be addressed directly.
“If you want to be radically honest, the vaccines are safe, they’ve been proven to be safe, and the current regimen has been timed to be most convenient to the parent,” he said. “At any point, the parent can say, ‘I want something different.’”
Cassidy challenged the president to explain the basis for his claim, asking, “Why do you think this vaccine is lethal?”
“Have you ever seen a case of lethality?” he said. “And what about the people who are not vaccinated, who are getting sick and even dying?”
The Louisiana Republican pointed to recent measles-related deaths, including a 40-year-old and an 18-year-old. He said measles is not a “victimless kind of experience,” comparing the consequences of spreading the disease to the dangers of drunk driving.
“You can drink and get drunk, but if you drive, you’re going to hurt other people,” Cassidy said. “You can get measles, but when you start spreading it to other people, a 40-year-old dies, an 18-year-old dies, children in a neonatal intensive care unit are at risk. People have got to realize, and the government has to realize it. The president should be saying, ‘Be vaccinated. It is safe and effective.’”
He continued: “We should have a common voice of radical honesty, of trying to help the American people understand what is safe. And if the president calls it lethal, then where are you getting your information, Mr. President? And if you really don’t have it, why are you willing to risk the lives of fellow Americans?”
Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, is set to leave office early next year after Trump endorsed his Republican primary challenger. Asked what he wants to hear from FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton during her confirmation hearing this week, Cassidy said he expects her to recognize that calling the measles vaccine lethal is absurd and to support “radical honesty.”
Cassidy also cited comments from Nicole Saphier, Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, who said during a committee hearing last week that the MMR vaccine is not lethal and encouraged people to get vaccinated. Cassidy said those remarks earned Saphier his vote.
“When somebody is willing to be honest to the American people and say that vaccines are safe, you should be taking it, and the consequence of not can even include death, well, what else can you ask for when it comes to vaccines?” he said.
